Holy Symbol of Ravenkind
The crystal in the middle brightens with an inner light, turning from a deep red to a more light orange color within seconds. The light builds, brighter and brighter, orange fading into yellow fading into a soft white that fully illuminates your small clearing, a gentle but strong and steady light that is almost familiar. Ismark stares at the light, eyes squinted and blinking rapidly at the brightness of it, expression unreadable. The handful of sunlight in Tansy's hand is warm against the chill of the rainstorm still stirring all around her. The Religion The religion that exists in Barovia is a fading shadow, remembered only dimly by those who have managed to cling to a handful of remaining theological texts and even fewer stories passed by word of mouth. Whether out of mercy or apathy, Strahd allowed the people living in the valley he conquered to keep most of their customs, and among these were their gods and the churches of them. But in the centuries that have passed since then, almost all Barovians have come to believe that the gods have abandoned them, or even that their ancestors offended the gods so terribly that they brought Strahd upon them as a final curse before the gods turned their backs on them. Since the day the mists rose around Barovia, even the most devout found the gods silent and distant, as if they had left Barovia behind. Most Barovians have, in turn, given up on the gods, and the hope that that their prayers might ever be answered, and one generation after another, fewer and fewer people even bother to care about the ancient legends, figures, and rites, allowing them to be forgotten in all but those few corners that cling to the scraps of memories of them. The Legend The exact origin of the symbol is forgotten, as is the names of those involved, and even their true natures. What is left of the legend tells of either a giant raven, an angel in the form of a raven, or an angel with raven-like wings who gifted a blessed, magical amulet to a holy knight who used it to help her purge the land of evil beings that hid from the light of the sun. It is said her campaign met a violent end, and the symbol was taken up by the church of the Morninglord in her memory. Despite her name and other details of her story being forgotten, it is still considered a very holy symbol by those who still care about such things, and frequently appears in what remains of Barovia's religious art and iconography. The Magic The amulet has ten charges, maximum, which can be spent to produce various magical effects. The amulet regains 1d6+4 charges every day at dawn. The magical effects available through the amulet are: * Hold Vampires. As an action, you can expend 1 charge and present the holy symbol to make it flare with holy power. Vampires and vampire spawn within 30 feet of the holy symbol when it flares must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a target is paralyzed for 1 minute. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end the effect on itself. * Turn Undead. If you have the Turn Undead or the Turn the Unholy feature, you can expend 3 charges when you present the holy symbol while using that feature. When you do so, undead able to be affected by those features have disadvantage on their saving throws against the effect. * Sunlight. As an action, you can expend 5 charges while presenting the holy symbol to make it shed bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. The light is sunlight and lasts for 10 minutes or until you end the effect (no action required). Attunement Status The amulet is currently attuned to Tansy. Category:Items Category:Magic items Category:In inventory Category:Curse of strahd